On June 18, the NYPD struck again. On that day, news quickly spread throughout the city that two members of the hip hop trio Rebel Diaz were unjustly arrested for attempting to aid an immigrant street vendor the cops were harassing in the South Bronx.
Rodstarz and G1, as the two brothers are known, witnessed police officers from the 41st Precinct in the Bronx “aggressively confiscating the fruit and vegetables,” according to a press release put out by the group. When they offered to translate for the vendor—who does not speak English—and questioned the officers about their rough tactics, the police turned their aggression on the duo. According to witnesses, the cops attempted to cover their badges, and then proceeded to beat and arrest Rodstarz and G1 in front of over a dozen witnesses.
Within a few hours, an emergency protest brought over 75 friends, community members and activists outside the 41st precinct demanding their immediate release and the dropping of all charges.
The two were charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, “the charges they give all young Black and Brown people when they have no other charges to give them,” according to Rodstarz. The two are scheduled for court on Sept. 3, 2008.
The Bronx is no stranger to police terror. Amadou Diallo was shot down by police in the borough, as was another unarmed immigrant man last year. In oppressed and working-class communities across the city, from the South Bronx to Jamaica, Queens–where Sean Bell was killed–police violence is a daily phenomenon. It is used by the capitalist system to suppress even minor acts of resistance, and to bring as many youth as possible “into the system,” so they can be subject to imprisonment and harassment for the rest of their lives.
Addressing the press in front of the office of Mothers on the Move, a Bronx community organization, Rodstarz said, “More than anything what happened yesterday is a sign of two very big issues in the South Bronx: one, the attack on immigrant street vendors, and two, the overall criminalization of young Black and Brown males.”
Rodstarz and G1—sons of Chilean political exiles—grew up on Chicago’s North Side. They use their music as a weapon to inspire oppressed youth to become activists and organize to defend their communities. Their revolutionary music unabashedly endorses the revolutionary movements of Latin America, the struggle of immigrant workers for full rights, and the community’s fight back against police brutality.
Rebel Diaz’s revolutionary music has become a staple at progressive political events throughout the city. They have performed in front of 500,000 immigrants and their supporters at the May Day march of 2006, at numerous Lyrical Revolts hosted by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), and recently at the “Why Socialism” conference held by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands in complete solidarity with Rodstarz and G1. We condemn the unlawful arrest and bogus charges imposed on these two brothers. Further, we condemn the all-too-routine police harassment of street vendors, and will do everything it can to build a movement to fight back against police brutality.
More information on Rebel Diaz can be found at http://www.rebeldiaz.com/
